RichTeer's Audio System

[richteer]

Originally Posted by Jwilly019

Just saw your updated pictures, the room look even better now. Do you have plans to add anything to your room soon?

Justin

Oh yes! In no particular order: a new cartridge, phono stage, line stage, power conditioner, and power cords. Also some acoustic treatments and some new equipment racks. I really like the look of the Finite Element Pagode Master Reference racks, but they're serious shekels! Plus various other little tweeks here and there.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by rded

Oh.....I feel extremely flattered by Rich updating his gallery upon my insistence...errr....request Thanks buddy!

My pleasure! If you look closely at some of the other pics, you can see the Frey interconnects snaking across the floor too. I'll update the pics once some Vishnu power cords grace my system...

Its not always the case. If the room doesn't have a lot of acoustic issues and has high ceilings, acoustic treatments can have miniscule effects and won't really take "it" to the next level. BTW Mr Kent, don't you see the echo busters situated at the corner there- not even with your super keen vision??

Nah, Clark couldn't see 'em cause he saw right through 'em with his X-ray eyes! :-) BTW, those are the very Echo Busters I'll be sending to John when their replacements arrive.

Most rooms will benefit from judicous acoustic treatments; bass traps are nearly always a good idea, as are absorbtion panels at the first reflection points. My Spires are dipoles, so I'll be putting some absorbtion panels behind them too.

[Halcro 1]

ARC Pre-Amp Im late to this thread (Touring) Awesome setup

[Canada]

Originally Posted by richteer

Hi all,

Some people have expressed an interest in seeing my turntable/audio system, so I thought I'd post a few pics. I've posted them here rather than the Home Theater Pics thread because I don't have a HT as such yet. I need to add a TV and surround sound decoder (plus a few amps and speakers!) to the stuff shown here before it would be worthy of the title "home theatre".

Enjoy!

My music room:


My turntable:


My turntable and preamp:


My power amps and speakers:


Turntable closeup:


Preamp closeup:


Rear speaker closeup (to show clear binding posts and Nordost Frey speaker cable):

Martin Logan Nice

[btf1980]

Still can't get over this excellent system. Magnificent rich!

[rpatt]

Very nice system. Who makes the turntable and how does the lateral drive work?

[richteer]

Originally Posted by rpatt

Very nice system. Who makes the turntable and how does the lateral drive work?

Thanks!

The turntable was made by the now defunct Swedish company, Forsell Mediphon. The tonearm, like the platter, is an air bearing. This means it floats on a frictionless cushion of air. As the stylus traverses the groove, it pulls the arm along with it. The low arm mass and friction mean that the stylus isn't put under undue pressure.

[rpatt]

Originally Posted by richteer

Thanks!

The turntable was made by the now defunct Swedish company, Forsell Mediphon. The tonearm, like the platter, is an air bearing. This means it floats on a frictionless cushion of air. As the stylus traverses the groove, it pulls the arm along with it. The low arm mass and friction mean that the stylus isn't put under undue pressure.

Interesting. What is the source of air pressure?

[richteer]

Originally Posted by rpatt

Interesting. What is the source of air pressure?

A couple of fish tank air pumps at the far end of a pair of small hoses that are about 50' long. I keep them in a cupboard to eliminate any sound from them. If you look closely at the picture of my TT, you can see the two clear hoses (in the same pics you can also see the two purple Nordost Frey interconnects, a blue grounding wire, and a grey power cable).

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by richteer

Thanks!

The turntable was made by the now defunct Swedish company, Forsell Mediphon. The tonearm, like the platter, is an air bearing. This means it floats on a frictionless cushion of air. As the stylus traverses the groove, it pulls the arm along with it. The low arm mass and friction mean that the stylus isn't put under undue pressure.

Rich,

You have me confused at this point. Dr. Peter Forsell has his own website from Switzerland. He shows the Forsell Reference Series Turntable with Flywheel on-line:

http://www.drforsell.com/turntable.htm

Rich

[richteer]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

Rich,

You have me confused at this point. Dr. Peter Forsell has his own website from Switzerland. He shows the Forsell Reference Series Turntable with Flywheel on-line:

http://www.drforsell.com/turntable.htm

Rich

Forsell's nomenclature can be a bit confusing. The rig that I'm currently using (sans flywheel) is the Forsell Air Reference Mk 2. Rmove the drive belt from motor pully and platter, and add the air bearing flywheel pictured in your link (and connect the flywheel to the platter with dental floss--yes really!), and you get the Forsell Air Force One Signature.

I actually do have the flywheel and for many years ran my rig as the Air Force One Signature, but I think the motor controller has become damaged or something, because I can't get the motor to turn slow enough to play 33 RPM records (my 45 RPM records can be played). This was the case even after I introduced the 240V @ 50Hz inverter I'm currently using to power my TT.

After trying a few things to get it to work properly, I gave up and removed the flywheel from the system and put it back in its box. This "converted" my TT back into the Forsell Air Reference.

Oooh, wait a sec! I've got a couple of photos of my TT that I took before removing the flywheel. Incidentally, these pics show at least one of the air hoses more clearly.

Here's the TT with the flywheel in situ, sitting on the stand I had custom made for it:


And here's a closeup of the flywheel:

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by richteer

Forsell's nomenclature can be a bit confusing. The rig that I'm currently using (sans flywheel) is the Forsell Air Reference Mk 2. Rmove the drive belt from motor pully and platter, and add the air bearing flywheel pictured in your link (and connect the flywheel to the platter with dental floss--yes really!), and you get the Forsell Air Force One Signature.

I actually do have the flywheel and for many years ran my rig as the Air Force One Signature, but I think the motor controller has become damaged or something, because I can't get the motor to turn slow enough to play 33 RPM records (my 45 RPM records can be played). This was the case even after I introduced the 240V @ 50Hz inverter I'm currently using to power my TT.

After trying a few things to get it to work properly, I gave up and removed the flywheel from the system and put it back in its box. This "converted" my TT back into the Forsell Air Reference.

Oooh, wait a sec! I've got a couple of photos of my TT that I took before removing the flywheel. Incidentally, these pics show at least one of the air hoses more clearly.

Here's the TT with the flywheel in situ, sitting on the stand I had custom made for it:


And here's a closeup of the flywheel:

Hi Rich,

I am sorry, I wasn't clear regarding my confusion. What I am/was confused about was that you indicated that the company was defunct. Maybe, what is now on-line is the same turntable with a different corporate name of Forsell AG. being sold directly through or by Dr. Peter Forsell out of Switzerland.

Rich

[richteer]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

Hi Rich,

I am sorry, I wasn't clear regarding my confusion. What I am/was confused about was that you indicated that the company was defunct. Maybe, what is now on-line is the same turntable with a different corporate name of Forsell AG. being sold directly through or by Dr. Peter Forsell out of Switzerland.

Rich

Oh, I see! Yes, the original company, Forsell Mediphon is defunct. I was aware of the site you linked to, but I didn't realise until now that it was run by Peter Forsell himself (I thought it was a "fan" site). I did try emailing Peter via that site last year sometime but received no reply. Perhaps I should try again... *Shrug*

It would be nice to get my flywheel fixed (it definately improves the sound), but OTOH, the noise produced by the turbulance induced by the balancing holes drilled in the flywheel's periphery was quite distracting. Perhaps I should at least enquire into the repair cost; it would be nice to have the option of using it! Or better, getting my TT modified to work on our 110V @ 60Hz natively. Now that I would like!

Edit: In fact, I'm gonna send him an email right now...

[richteer]

Just a quick "thanks!" to the mod who moved this thread its more appropriate place in the HT galleries section. It saved me the job of creating a new thread!

[solarrdadd]

excellent stereo equipment, excellent! why don't you put this in a gallery, i wanted to rate it but couldn't so for now, perfect 9, i'll give you a 10 when you put it in a gallery. love the speakers and the speaker cables too!

[SeanMF]

I was going to say...this was in a different section. Your setup is pure eye candy Rich. Love it!

[gates70]

I'd give you a 1 rating in your gallery since there's no screen.....just kidding. Sweet setup !

[kevon27]

Wait a minute. All that high end audiophile gear and you are using a $2 power strip????

[richteer]

Originally Posted by kevon27

Wait a minute. All that high end audiophile gear and you are using a $2 power strip????

Good catch, and somewhat guilty as charged!

I am temporarily using a Belkin power surge protector strip for my power amps and speakers, but my source and preamp are protected by a more appropriate piece of kit: a Furman Elite 15-PFi. In the not too distant future, a Nordost Thor power conditioner will take the Furman's place, which will in turn replace the Belkin power bar.

I tried not using the Belkin bar at all, but the power cables had to stretch a bit far (but just doable), and the lack of any power protection made me nervous. At the end of the day, I decided that temporarily using a cheap surge protector was the lessor of the two evils.

[MrFattBill]

Very nice setup. I bet sitting in there and listening to music you love probably puts a huge smile on your face

Bill